St Mary’s Community Park Committee celebrated the completion of their project on 19 September with a Family Fun Day in the glorious sunshine. Many people joined them, bringing a picnic and watching the children enjoying the playground.
In addition, there was a football tournament, organised by John Greenacre and Ruddington Fun sports equipment provided by Barbara Breakwell. The Ruddington Baptist Church brought tasty cakes and entertained the children with beautiful face painting creations. Seeing the children enjoying themselves was a delight to watch.
The celebrations brought to a close three and a half years of hard work by the committee members; Alex Watts, Helen Wilkinson, Stephanie Palmer, Emma Powell, Rachael Pierpoint, Nikki Herbison, Keri Oliver, Margarita Manning, Ruth Wilding, Jenny Kirkwood and Jean Greenwood. In that time they raised over £94,000 to transform a neglected piece of land into a play paradise for children and a community area with benches and picnic tables for everyone to enjoy.
The committee recognises that they could not have achieved their goal alone and they would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the project through fundraising events and donations.
Since the installation of the first phase of the park in February this year, many families began regularly visiting the park. This underlined the belief of the committee that this area of Ruddington needed a safe playground for the children to play.
The park has undergone a further transformation at the end of the summer holidays, with the installation of play equipment aimed at older children and a tarmac path. Subsequently, the park is a lovely place to be after school and at the weekends.
F
amilies from other areas of Ruddington make the trip to this exciting community park.
The money for the latest phase has been raised by several groups. Two pieces of equipment have been donated in memory of Nikki Herbison. Her colleagues at the Orthoptics Department at the QMC raised the funds for the trim trail, while her University friends donated the mini goal.
Many donations to the group’s MyDonate page were in Nikki’s memory as suggested by her family.
The group was able to purchase and install the climbing frame, apple ball game and tarmac path through these donations, funding support from Ruddington Parish Council and the successful application for £14,500 from Nottinghamshire County Council Supporting Local Communities Fund.
The Committee is very proud of what they have achieved and encourage everyone visiting St Mary’s Community Park to enjoy and look after it. The project highlights the fantastic community spirit at the heart of our village.
Alex Erven